I might as well start out by introducing myself:
Torben Gundtofte-Bruun from Copenhagen, Denmark

I'm probably one of the newest FW customers, because I got my FW TS in late February 2005. Not a lot of people can have gotten FW products much later than that...

I'm the one who created this http://fingerfans.dreamhosters.com website, but I hope that many others will contribute to make this become a valuable resource for all those FW customers that would otherwise be let down by the apparent closure of the FW company.

Welcome, all!

Last edited by TorbenGB on 30 Apr 2005, 11:46, edited 3 times in total.

I picked up my LP...wow I can't even remember the days before I had it

Probably no later than 2003. I'm a developer by trade and love these things more than I can say. If new ones remain unavailable I'm going to have to pick up some electronics chops to make sure I can refurbish this thing indefinately.

My thanks as well to Torben for taking the effort to give the community a way to stick together.

I thought I'd write a short summary of how I'm doing with my TouchStream keyboard, now that I've used it for four months.

On typing:I'm still not up to my usual writing speed, and I don't think I ever will be. The lack of tactile feedback slows my typing and reduces my accuracy. I hit wrong keys more often than on a normal mechanical keyboard, and I use the handy backspace a lot. My typing speed is maybe at 85% of what I used to, but the missing 15% are more than made up for with the ease and comfort of the many gestures and not having to reach for the mouse.

I've placed a lot of text fragments and codes on the Symbol Pad and done a few modifications to the key layout, but that's about it.

On general usage and gestures:On a mechanical keyboard, I can use keyboard shortcuts much quicker than on the TS, but they are made obsolete by the many gestures and by the fact that I don't have to reach for the mouse. Now it's often faster to gesture and use the mouse, simply because it's right under my fingertips.

I haven't modified or invented any new gestures -- I still find the gesture editing somewhat puzzling, but then again I don't really feel the need to change or add any gestures anyway.

Transporting the TS:I'm mostly using my TS at work. I don't often bother to take it home with me, and I don't spend that much time in front of the computer at home. But when I do use the home computer, oh how I miss the gestures! So when I know that I'll be doing stuff after work, I will pack up my TS and bring it home.

I've cut out a piece of a 10mm rubber-foam sheet that I can place on the right half of the TS, coil up the cable in the middle, and close the left TS over it as a lid - then secure with a simple rubber band. This serves as a simple and effective travel protection for the TS's surface and cable.

All in all, I am very happy with the TS and I would sorely miss it if it were to break.

Because the FW site seems to become unreliable, I am investing some time and effort in establishing this new user community. It is my hope to offer the users a new place to support their common interest in zero-force input devices and FW products in particular.

Since Ivanw brought it up, I thought I'd post a short comment here where it seems proper.
Last week I moved to Vienna with my fiancée. She's from here, that's why. We've been living in Copenhagen (where I'm from) for some time, and now it's time to try her home base for some time, too. So I quit my job at IBM Denmark and started looking for work here instead (no, there was no option of an internal transfer to IBM Austria). The hunt is looking good so far, and in the meantime I'm enjoying this little holiday with great weather - and unpacking moving crates